Reason to Breathe
by ChainGangDiva54
Summary: After a horrible incident with a cheating, abusive exboyfriend that nearly left her for dead, she was instead left weak, broken, and slightly paranoid. More summary inside... Trish Stratus, John Cena, Torrie Wilson, AJ Styles, Maria, Amy Dumas...
1. Birthday Turned Disaster

**Reason to Breathe**

**Disclaimer**: I own absolutely no one.

**Summary**: After a horrible incident with a cheating, abusive ex-boyfriend that nearly left her for dead, she was instead left weak, broken, and slightly paranoid. Her friends are there for her and they try to help her get her life back to normal. Will one of her friends step it up and also make her feel what it is like to be loved again? Will she ever feel safe? Or will her past come back to haunt her?

**Characters**: Trish Stratus, Maria Kanellis, Torrie Wilson, Amy Dumas, John Cena, Phil Brooks (CM Punk), AJ Styles, Chris Masters, others for cameo appearances…

**Pairing**: Chris/Trish/John, Torrie/AJ, Maria/Phil

**Drama/Romance/Humor**

**A/N**: A new story! Yes, yes, yes, I know I still have my other two that I haven't updated, but to be honest, I'm starting to lose interest. I'm not positively sure if I want to delete them or not, still thinking. And hopefully this new story helps me get my groove back into some story writing mode. So yes, read, hope you enjoy, and tell me what you think.

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**Chapter 1: Birthday Turned Disaster  
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It was a Sunday night and Trish Stratus was having one of the best days of her entire life. There was about 5 minutes left until it hits midnight and it would officially be her birthday. She was hanging out with her childhood best friends and roommates, Maria Kanellis, Torrie Wilson, and Amy Dumas, at a nightclub where she works at called Club Rain, celebrating her 25th birthday. Along with them were Trish's boyfriend of 8 months, Chris Masters, Torrie's boyfriend of a two years, AJ Styles, and her good friend John Cena. They were out celebrating, just having a good time drinking and dancing. "So Trish, how does it finally feel to be 25 with us?" Torrie grinned at the petite blonde as they were all sitting at a table. Trish didn't answer right away as she was too busy giggling and giving her boyfriend pecks of kisses. "Hey!" Torrie yelled, trying to get her attention until AJ finally threw a crumpled up napkin at their friend.

"Jeez guys… gross," AJ playfully glared in disgust.

"What?" she finally responded, prying herself away from Chris. "You two do it too!" she countered with the group sharing a small laugh.

In reality, everyone at the table was never too fond of Trish's boyfriend. They hated how Chris would treat her at times, the constant arguing between the two, calling her inappropriate names, bossing her around, and being a sexist pig, even flirting with other girls in front of her. There are times he could be nice, but that was only to get a certain favor from the blonde or just to get some credit from people; behind closed doors, he was an ass to her. But for some reason, they didn't know why Trish would take that kind of behavior from him. Other than that, if their best friend was "happy", then they'll just have to accept it for what it was.

"Anyways, how about we all do a round of shots in honor of Trish?" Amy yelled out.

"Tabs on who?" they all eyed the redhead.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine! The tabs are on me… just for this one round! The rest you're on your own!"

They all laughed while Amy bought a round of Jack Daniels. The seven all held up their shot glasses to the middle of the circle. "To Trish!" Maria yelled out. "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday Trish!" they all then yelled out and quickly downed their shots. Right then, Pussycat Dolls' "Buttons" with Snoop Dogg blasted through the speakers, getting the girls excited.

"Come on honey, there is no way I'm gonna sit out to this song," Torrie grinned at AJ, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the dance floor.

Trish turned to Chris. "Oh no," he immediately responded, shaking his head.

"Aw come on!" Trish pleaded, pouting her lips.

He continued shaking his head. "I don't dance, not even to this kind of lame stupid music."

Trish angrily glared at him. "Then why are you even here?"

"You know why I'm here," he gave her a blunt look, "to be with you on your birthday!"

"Whatever, you're here more for the drinks," she rolled her eyes. And it was always like that between the two. One minute things were fine between them, the next second, they were disputing about something.

Maria shook her head at Chris. "Come on Trish," the brunette said, trying to lighten her mood, "let's go dance." She grabbed her hand and led her out of the table. "You too, John," she looked at the only other male at the table.

John slowly put his bottle of beer down. "Me?"

"John!" Trish scrunched her nose up. "But John doesn't dance at all!" Trish playfully argued, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What! How would you know?" he argued back.

"Uh, 'cause I've seen you," she laughed.

"Whatever Stratus, what if I got a secret weapon huh?" he retaliated.

Trish laughed some more and rolled her eyes. "Please, just standing there is _NOT_ a secret weapon!"

"Oh, you're gonna be like that huh?" he grinned while she nodded. "Fine, let's go," he stood up.

Trish looked at him, both of her eyebrows raised. She then glared over at Chris. "At least somebody is willing to dance," she mumbled at him.

Chris bitterly shook his head. "Better not get too touchy out there," he warned, eyeing the other male. Trish rolled her eyes at him again, shaking her head.

"Are you coming Ames?" Maria asked.

"Nah, I think I'll sit this one out for a while," the redhead replied. She nodded her head as the three then headed to the dance floor where Torrie and AJ were at. Once they were gone, Amy shot a glare at Chris. "What the hell is your problem? You can't even sacrifice yourself for a single dance with her on her birthday?"

Chris just ignored her. "I'll be back. If Trish comes back before I do, just… tell her I'll be back."

"Where the hell are you going?" Amy questioned, her glare becoming more intense.

"Don't worry about it," he replied and quickly left. Amy eyed him suspiciously, wondering why he was being secretive leaving the table.

"It'll be even better if you don't come back at all," she muttered, taking a drink of her beer. She then looked over at the trio over at the floor and laughed when she saw John being sandwiched in between the girls with Trish being in the front and Maria in the back.

"So how am I doing Trish?" John yelled out over the music.

Trish turned around to face him. "Eh, mediocre," she simply replied. "And that's me being nice," she smiled.

"Pfft, you're just jealous," he said. "You just don't want to admit that I can be a competition to you on the floor," he joked as he did the robot, causing Trish to laugh.

"Oh yeah, definitely jealous," she sarcastically said.

He smirked and shrugged one of his shoulders. "I know," he laughed along with the blonde. After a couple of more songs, the five decided to head back to the table.

Trish looked around. "Where did he go?"

Amy uncaringly shrugged. "He said he'll be back," she repeated what he told her.

"How long has he been gone?"

"Since you left to the dance floor," she simply responded.

Trish looked around again. "I'll be back, I'm gonna go look for him." She then left the table, a distraught look taken over her happy face. The group noticed, but decided to not stand in her way at the moment. Since she worked there, she knew her way around of the building. She walked by the bar, in hopes he would be there, but wasn't. She then passed by every sides and corners of the building, but had no luck. She then decided to try outside. She walked up to one of the bouncers she knew. "Hey Joe," she looked up at the huge man.

"Hey Trish, what can I do for ya, girl?"

"Um, did you happen to see Chris around by any chance?" she asked.

The huge man tried to remember. "You know, I think I did. I think I saw him heading towards the parking lot."

Trish nodded her head. "Okay, thanks," she smiled and then headed that way. As soon as she turned a corner, she abruptly stopped in her tracks. From a distant, she could see the back of Chris where his car was. Slowly continuing her way as she eyed the figure, she then stopped again when she saw a small pair of arms appear, seductively wrapping around the large bulky body. She shook her head in disbelief. Letting her rage get to her, she stomped her way up to the couple. "What the hell is going on here?"

Chris turned around, quickly pulling himself away from the other girl. "Tri-"

"Hi, I'm Trish," she smiled at the blonde, extending her hand out to her.

"Kelly," she smiled, oblivious to what was going on.

"So, what were you guys doing?" Trish curiously asked, folding her arms.

"Trish, I can-"

"Uh, I was talking to Kelly," she interrupted him.

"Oh, nothing really. We were just… _getting to know each other_," she winked at him, giving him a flirtatious smile.

"Getting to know each other, huh," Trish smirked. "So is that what it's called nowadays?"

"Uh, Kelly, you better get going," he mumbled to her.

The blonde nodded her head. "Alright, call me okay?" she said, kissing him on the cheek while handing him a piece of paper before walking away.

Trish stood there, watching everything that just happened right in front of her. "You're such a fuckin' bastard," she shook her head in disgust, "Cheating on me right on my birthday!"

"Trish, we were just talking!"

"Talking my ass!" Trish yelled out. "We've been together for 8 months and you're still flirting with other girls! You know I hate it and yet you still do it!"

"Trish, what do you want me to do? I tried pushing them away, but they just keep coming back," he said. "I can't help it!"

She stared at him in wonder. "Do you know how stupid you sound right now? This is like the 100th time I caught you flirting with another girl since we've been together! What, you can't even tell them that you have a girlfriend or just plain ignore them?"

"Trish," he sighed.

She shook her head. "No, I don't even want to hear it anymore 'cause you come up with the same stupid excuses! Despite all the fights we had, I still stuck by you. But cheating on me, especially right in front of my face, is one thing that I'm not gonna stick around for. Oh my God, I can't believe I ever loved you! It's over between us you cheating bastard," she spat at him and walked away, teary eyed from all the anger she was feeling at the moment.

He immediately followed her back to the club. "Come on Trish, you don't mean that," he said. Trish continued shaking her head, not wanting to hear his excuses. They stepped back inside the club with Trish heading back to the table and Chris right at her heels. "Trish, let's just talk this out."

"No." She was still shaking her head, trying to get away from him as possible and trying not to cause a scene.

Getting frustrated by the moment, he finally grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. "Listen, we're gonna fuckin' talk about this right now!" he angrily yelled into her face.

Little did they know, they were a couple of feet away from where the group was and they clearly heard Chris yelling over the music. They all turned their heads and saw the two were having another one of their arguments. Trish was avoiding eye contact with him while Chris was furiously yelling at her. "I wonder what it's about now," Amy said, disgusted at the sight of how the way he was treating her.

"Chris, I don't want to hear what you have to say," Trish tried to brush him off, but he still had his grip on her arm.

"No we're gonna talk about this right now! It's _NOT_ over between us and we're gonna work this out! You hear me!" he angrily yelled with veins clearly popping out of his neck. "What you saw back there… she came onto me okay! So quit acting like a bitch and accusing that I'm cheating on you and saying that it's over when you don't even know the real story!"

Trish was slightly taken back. He had called her names before, but it was never in public. So she was shocked that she was being disrespected right in front of strangers and friends at a place that she works at instead at their own private time. "How am I being a bitch?" she asked, trying to sound calm as possible as they were already getting stares from all around, "Because I don't want to talk about it? Because I actually caught you in action with another girl?" she questioned. "I don't need to know the real story or even care about hearing it. A proof is a proof and that kiss and this number," she grabbed Kelly's number from his pocket, "are one of the many evident to tell me that you're a cheating asshole!"

Chris let out a loud frustrating sigh. "I am not fuckin' cheating on you! And I never have!"

"Oh okay, so she just tripped and her lips fell onto yours when I caught you," she retorted, folding her arms.

He then tightened his grip on her arm and harshly pulled her closer to him. More tears were building up in her eyes from the pain on her arm. "Trish quit being fuckin' stupid," he glared down at her. "Now we're gonna work this out so we're gonna tell those stupid friends of yours that we're leaving. So you better wipe those fuckin' tears out of your eyes by the time we get to the table," he gritted his teeth.

Trish stared at him in disbelief and slapped him hard in the face, but it did no justice for him to let go of her arm. "I'm not going anywhere with you! Let go!" she tried to struggle out of his grip.

He rubbed his cheek where she had slapped him and angrily looked back at her. "That's it." With that, he pulled her along with him, making his way to the exit while she struggled even more. The group stared in shock and immediately reacted by chasing after them. Both John and AJ quickly caught up to the two and stood in front of Chris's way with John standing eye-to-eye with him. "Get the fuck out of my way. This doesn't involve any of you guys," Chris glared at him.

"I'll get the fuck out of your way when you let her go," John glared back. Chris haughtily smirked. He stepped aside, only to have John step aside as well.

He annoyingly sighed. "Me and Trish are just gonna talk alright? So move," he frustratingly let out. John kept his stance, not budging one bit for him. Chris let out another annoyed sigh. "Fine," he spat out at him, forcing himself to let go of Trish, slightly pushing her down to the floor. She was immediately attended by the girls. Both John and Chris were still at eye-to-eye with one another for a while until Chris finally walked around him and left.

As soon as he was clearly out of sight, they both walked up to Trish. "You okay?" John asked. Trish was a bit shaken up by the incident with mix emotions running through her. One thing her friends could only hope for that this was the end of her relationship with Chris.

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**A/N:** Continue? Yay? Nay? 

**R&R Please…**


	2. Round 2

**A/N**: Thanks for the reviews everyone! Nice to see some familiar names again, threatening me again like the old times, _cough_**Mrs.Rated-R-Superstar**_cough_. And also nice to see some new names. This is like sort of a filler chapter, but I still hope you enjoy it... Next chapter will be out soon.

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**Chapter 2: Round 2  
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The next morning, Trish was sleeping peacefully on her bed until she was abruptly awakened by the sunlight shining brightly down on her face. She tried to shield her eyes with her hand to avoid the slight pain. She fluttered her eyes opened and tried to focus them at what had caused the sudden rude awakening. "Amy what the hell?" she saw the redhead standing there with her hand holding the window curtains widely open.

"Wake up," the redhead said.

"Why?" she groaned, pulling the blanket over her head.

"Because even though we were out last night until midnight waiting for your birthday to come, it's still your birthday right now and we have a cake for you," she heard another voice say. Trish slightly pushed the blanket off and lifted her head up to see the rest of her roommates, Maria and Torrie, standing in her room with a plate of stacked pancakes and lit candles.

"But that's not a-"

"Yes it is! It's a pan-_CAKE_! Now make a wish and blow the candles," Maria smiled.

"But-"

"Trish, just go along with it," said Amy. "Trust me, I was the same like you until it got annoying arguing with her. And you don't wanna know how long we were going at it."

She let out a small chuckle. "Okay, whatever," she shrugged and blew the candles out. "Thanks girls," she smiled.

"Alright as much as I wanna stay longer… I can't 'cause I gotta go to work now," said Torrie. "I'll see you girls tonight."

"Bye," they all said. After that, Torrie walked out the door. "What about you ladies? What time do you go to work today?" Trish yawned out.

"I have work at noon 'til 6," Maria replied.

"3 'til 11," Amy said next. "What about you?"

"8 to 2 in the morning," Trish said, aimlessly looking at the floor. Just then, Trish's phone rang and she immediately recognized the ring tone, tensing up at every ring. Maria and Amy looked at each other, knowing who it was.

"Don't answer it," said the brunette. Trish was being hesitant. Of course she didn't want to talk to him, but something inside her was nagging for her to pick it up.

"Here," Amy said, grabbing her phone and denied the call for her. "Oops," Amy shrugged. Trish stared at her in shock. "What? You don't need to talk to Chris anyways. You have to get as much sleep as you can 'cause you have work tonight and won't be coming home 'til 2 in the morning," she suavely replied, handing the phone back to her.

Trish shook her head. "I can't believe you." She then looked at Maria, who was trying to hold in her laugh.

"Well when you think about it, she does have a point," she agreed, laughing. "You need to rest up so you can make people their drinks! People won't like it if you mix the wrong drinks together."

Trish couldn't help but laugh a little along with them. "You guys are dumb," she shook her head.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get ready for work right now," Maria said, standing up. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

They both nodded their heads, watching the brunette walk out the room. Now it was just Trish and Amy. Amy looked over at Trish and could tell that her mind was occupied at the moment. "You're thinking about him aren't you?"

Trish shook out of her thoughts and looked at the redhead sitting next to her. "Is it obvious?" she asked with a sad face.

Amy nodded her head. "Look, you don't need that asshole. He was like a cancer in your life, you should be happy that he's gone."

Trish sighed. "That's the thing though. Why am I not happy?"

Amy couldn't help but look at her with sympathy, understanding what the blonde was going through. "Look, I know it's pretty hard getting over a long serious relationship, but…" she shook her head, "Trish you can't be thinking about getting back together with him. Looking back, don't you notice that ever since you've been with him, there was never a day where you guys aren't yelling at each other? Or a day where you're not crying over Chris's ignorance… that you had no reason to even cry about at all!"

"I know," Trish quietly mumbled. "Look Ames, I know that you never liked him-"

"Never did, never will," the redheaded added.

Trish just eyed her before continuing on. "… And I know that you had a hard time coping with him being around, but…"

"But what?" she eyed her warily. Trish didn't respond, clearly confused on what she was feeling. "Trish, he's a jerk. He clearly doesn't even know how to respect you! Last night, Chris had no right to treat you like that. He cheated on you and then had the nerves to flat out embarrass you… on your birthday in front of everyone…"

"I know," she sighed.

"You deserve better than that. I mean, look at your arm!" Amy pointed at the newly formed bruise Chris had given her from when he grabbed her. "Is that a reason for you to get back together with Chris?"

"Ames I never said I was gonna get back together with him."

"But you're thinking about it aren't you?" she interrogated.

Trish frustratingly pinched the bridge of her nose and ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know! I hate him, I hate him for everything he's done to me, I hate him for making me look like a fool, I hate him for wasting 8 months of my life, I hate him for coming into my life at all, I…" she shook her head, letting her emotions get to her, "UGH! I just hate him!" she frustratingly yelled, fumingly breathing in and out. Amy sat back and stared at her friend, not expecting for her to burst out like that. "And yet…" she spoke again while regaining her composure, "why does a part of me miss him?"

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**Later on the day…**

It was about 3 o'clock now and Amy had already left for work. Trish was sitting outside in the little balcony of their apartment, breathing in the fresh cold December air. She stared aimlessly out at the streets with her arms folded, letting her mind drift. As much as she tried not to think about him, it became useless as he always found a way inside her head. He had called her several times that morning, but Amy wouldn't have any of it and would screen every call from him for her. Not trusting the blonde by herself with his calls, the redhead even went far to take her phone away from her to work. Trish didn't know who was dumber at the moment though, Amy for forgetting there was still the home phone, or Chris for not attempting to call the home phone. She was then startled when she heard the phone ring. Hesitating for a moment, she looked at the ID. She then sighed. "Hello?"

"Hey," she heard on the other end. "I was just thinking about you right now and I wanted to see how my girl is doing."

She smiled at his caring gesture. "I'm good," she replied.

"Really? You don't sound like it," he said. "You wanna talk about it?"

She stressfully sighed. "Just got stuff on my mind."

"Wait, hold up," he then said. Trish nodded and sat there silently waiting for him. Minutes later, she then heard him again. "Hey, I'm about to go on my break in 5-10 minutes. You wanna drop by so we can get lunch together?"

"You mean I have to drive all the way there?"

"Come on, it only takes about 5 minutes to get here from your place," he said.

Trish rolled her eyes. "Fine, you're lucky that I'm not doing anything right now," she smirked. "See you then."

"Alright, bye," he chuckled.

Five minutes later, Trish drove up to a place called, Custom Streets, a garage company that repairs and customizes cars. She walked in through the main entrance and headed straight to the garage area, immediately greeted by stares and complimentary whistles. She shyly blushed and was then approached by a familiar face. "I see ya finally decided to visit me," he joked, giving her a hug.

"Hey Gregory," she smiled.

"Hey Trish," he returned, "Happy birthday! Sorry I couldn't make it to the club last night."

"Oh it's okay Greg, don't worry about it. But thanks though," she smiled, "Anyways, have you see John?"

"Uh yeah, he's in the back. Come on, I'll take you to him," he said, leading the way. She followed him all the way to the back where the locker/break room was. "Yo John, birthday girl is here," he said right when he opened the door.

John had tossed his utility shirt inside his mini locker and then appeared at the doorway that separated the locker room from the break room. "Hey, just in time," he smiled at her. "You ready to go?"

Trish nodded her head. "I'll talk to you later Greg," she smiled.

"Later Helms," John then said as he and Trish both made their way to the door.

"See ya guys later."

They both nodded and walked out the door. They then headed to a nearby restaurant and proceeded their lunch from there. "So," John began, "what's bugging you?"

Trish gave him a blunt stare. "Do you really need to ask what's bugging me?" she rhetorically asked.

"Alright sorry," he slightly chuckled. "I figured you would be somewhat not yourself so that's why I asked if you wanted to get something to eat. Ya know, help ya get you're mind off of him."

She softly smiled at him. "Thanks, I really do need that right now."

"So I was thinking," John began, "since your birthday started off not the way you wanted it to, and we can't really do anything tonight 'cause you're working… we should do something to make up for it."

She smiled at his thoughtfulness, but then shook her head. "That's really nice of you to suggest that, but it's okay really; we don't have to do anything. I mean, my birthday is soon going to be in the past now. Christmas is coming up next week and we're gonna be home with our families…"

"It's okay, we can celebrate after Christmas," he said, not taking no for an answer. "I mean, we can all go out to eat, mini golfing, bowling, take a couple of days off and stay at a retreat up in the mountains, or something," he suggested.

Trish thought about it. "Hmmm, retreat…" she said, sounding interested. "Snow does sound fun to play with right now," a smile slowly creeping onto her face.

John let out a small laugh. "Then a trip to the mountains it is." Trish smiled widely, giving a nod of approval to the plan with the two then discussing about the trip in the making.

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**That night…**

Trish was walking through the nightclub straight to the back to get to the break room. "Hey sexy mama!" she was greeted right when she walked in. Trish looked up to see it was two of her co-workers and good friends, Talia Madison and Beth Pheonix. "Happy birthday!" they both yelled out.

"Thanks girls," she smiled, making her way towards them and gave each a hug.

"You okay? I heard what happened," Talia said with concerned looks on her and Beth's faces. Out of all the co-workers there, she, Talia, and Beth were the closest with each other. They were her other best friends from her work side.

"Wow, words get spread around fast doesn't it," Trish forced a chuckled.

"Well, it did happen in this club so people here are bound to talk," said Beth, "especially if it involves one of the employees." Trish sigh and nodded her head. "But don't worry, if I ever see him here, I'll kill him. I'll poison his drink."

"Beth!" Trish stared at her in shock.

"What?" slightly raised her hands questioningly. "Okay fine… I'll put laxative in it," she laughed. Trish shook her head while the girls laughed.

"Come on birthday girl," Talia linked her arm with Trish's, "We got drinks to mix and serve."

The night went on with Trish bartending to the many guests. Things were going pretty smoothly for her as she hadn't thought about Chris that whole night with her mind being so occupied… until that moment came. "Here ya go, enjoy your night," she smiled, handing the guests their drinks. They stepped away from the bar while Trish talked to a couple of people. She then sensed a new guest at the counter and set her eyes back to where they were before and immediately the smile on her face disappeared.

There he was, standing there with a sly look on his face. "What? You're not gonna take my order? It's your job isn't it?"

Trish tried to avoid eye contact with him. "Uh, what do you want?"

"Shouldn't you already know what I want?" he smirked. Trish rolled her eyes and went to grab him a bottle of Millers Lite and handed the bottle to him. "Actually, I didn't want a beer, but nice of you to still think about me," taking the beer from her hand. "Actually, what I really wanted… was you."

"Leave me alone, Chris," she sternly said, continuing on with her job.

"Come on Trish, let's talk about this," he pleaded.

"I'm busy right now."

"So, you can talk and get drinks at the same time," he said. Trish sighed annoyingly, which Beth caught. Beth looked over and saw what was going on.

"Listen," Beth stepped in, "why don't you leave her alone or else I'll get your ass kicked out of here for harassment," she warned.

"Listen bitch, this is between me and Trish. So why don't you move your flat ass back to where you were and mind your own business," Chris glared.

"Don't talk to her like that," Trish angrily stared at him.

"Well, tell her to mind her own business."

"It's okay Trish. His words doesn't even hurt me at all. It just proves what his love life is gonna be like for the rest of his life… spending it with a large bottle of lotion on the many lonely nights," Beth smirked. "I really think it's so cute that you need to boost your ego up by insulting women you know you can't even handle," she sarcastically said.

"Shut up and go back to your spot," he glared at Beth.

"Chris!" Trish yelled, having enough of it. Chris was about to say something until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see two bouncers standing behind him.

"Can I help you guys with something?" Chris suavely asked.

"Quit being a smartass," one of the bouncers said as they pulled him away from the bar. Both Trish and Beth watched him being taken away with Trish ending up being in another scene again for the second time in the row, once again on her birthday for his actions, at the same nightclub.

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**R&R Please…**


	3. The Best Medicine & Roses

**A/N**: Thanks again everyone! **Takerslady **- Yep, it's her. Kudos to you for recognizing her :). Okay, I hope this chapter is good. I don't know, it seemed a little off to me for some reason. But what am I to say? It's up to you readers if it's good or not. Welp, I'll be waiting for the next set of reviews to see what you guys really think. Oh, and nothing juicy happens yet. It'll come like after the next couple of chapters.

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**Chapter 3: The Best Medicine & Roses  
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It was midday and Trish was home alone as the others were at work. She was making her way to the kitchen until she heard a noise coming from the front door. She froze in place, not expecting any company. She cautiously walked over until she froze again, holding her breath when she saw the doorknob jiggling profusely. She then saw the door slowly open and then let out a sigh of relieve. "My God, you scared me," she said, shaking off the nerves.

"Sorry," sending her an apologetic smile. "My key got stuck in the doorknob and I had to jiggle it out."

"What are you doing here, Maria?" Trish asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Maria let out a tiring sigh and plopped down on the comfy couch. "Well, I got a 4 hour shift today. We got a new receptionist in Quixote and all I had to do was basically just make sure she doesn't screw up for four hours then I'm off for my two weeks holiday vacation. So I get the rest of the week to spend with you until you go to work and 'til we all leave on Friday."

Trish nodded her head. "Cool," she simply replied. "Well, I was going to see if there was anything in the fridge to eat, and since you're here now… You hungry?"

Maria nodded her head. "You wanna go out?"

"Uh… sure," she shrugged. "Just let me go change then we'll go." Maria tiredly nodded her head and watched the petite blonde retreat back to her room.

Once Trish was ready, they both went out for lunch. They had just told the waiter their orders and now they were just sitting and waiting for their food to arrive. "So…" Maria began, getting Trish's full attention, "how was work last night?" Trish discreetly bit down on her lips as the memories from last night was playing clearly in her head. When Maria didn't get a quick response, she looked up to see a spaced out blonde. "Trish…?"

Trish shook herself out of thoughts, "Oh, I'm sorry, umm…"

Maria narrowed her brows, looking at her friend weirdly. "Trish, you okay?" she lightly chuckled, hoping nothing was wrong.

"Uh…" Trish began, "Chris showed up last night," she finally said, looking down at the table.

Maria's face dropped as she just stared at the blonde, "You serious? You okay, what happened?"

Trish pursed her lips to the side. "Just caused another scene, but this time with Beth," she replied.

"Is she alright?" Maria asked with concern.

"Yeah, nothing drastically happened, just war of words between them, and then he had to be taken out," she sighed. "Tell me… did I do something wrong to have this all happen to me? I mean, did I do something wrong on my birthday?"

"Well, I can name one thing for sure…" Maria mumbled. Trish looked at Maria as the brunette then immediately shook her head. "But _on your birthday_, no, you didn't do anything wrong at all. The main goal on your birthday was for you to have fun and that's what you were doing, just having fun. Or at least… you were trying to have fun."

"Then, why do I feel at fault if I didn't do anything wrong?" she questioned.

"Trish, no," Maria shook her head, "You're not at fault for anything. It was your birthday! You're supposed to have fun and let loose! It's your day!" she exclaimed. She saw that Trish was still a bit distressed. "Okay you know what, you wanna know what I think?" Trish nodded her head. "Okay… every time when we all go out, when you were still with Chris at the time, you basically cater him. It's not fair when it's supposed to be a night of fun, but you're not having fun 'cause _he_ wasn't having fun. Do you see where I'm getting at with this?"

"I see your point," muttered Trish.

"Then why did you feel the need to constantly make him happy, even when he was treating you bad? You shouldn't have to cater to him 24/7, you should also be catering yourself too," said the brunette. "You know, I was proud of you that night 'cause you actually did your own thing. You wanted to dance, so you danced without worrying about him… Then at the end, you went to go look for him—but we won't go into that."

Trish weakly smirked, "Yeah, let's not." There was a short silent until Trish broke it with a sigh. "I don't know. It wasn't in my mentality in the beginning. I always knew that in a relationship, we had to be equal, and I was strong about that and I knew what I wanted," she explained. "But somehow… days pass and little by little I felt myself being broken apart to the point where I just became weak. I didn't even know what I wanted anymore," she said, a tear slowly trickling down her face as she aimlessly stared down at the table. "All the fights we had…" she continued, "I knew we were fighting because of him. But I just let him; I let him yell at me and let him do what he wanted."

"Why? Why do you let him?"

"Because I figured things would get better the next day," she sadly replied. "Sometimes fights can make a relationship for the better because you try to fix what's wrong together and you learn more about each other, and that's what makes it stronger. But with me and Chris…" sadly shaking her head as a couple more tears slowly fell, "we never even talked about it. It was always a simple '_I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…_' and then we're back together like nothing happened. No in-depth conversation or anything."

Maria frowned. "Can I ask you something?" Trish looked up at her in response. "What did you ever see in him?"

Trish averted her eyes away, asking herself the same question. "To be honest… I have absolutely no clue," she said. "I mean at first, yeah he was nice, charming, sweet, made me laugh here and there, but overall I can't think of one thing I ever saw in him. It was like I was in a trance or something."

The brunette smirked, not wanting to be rude as she tried to hold in her laugh. "So you're saying he put voodoo on you?" she couldn't help and asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Trish sat silently until she cracked a smile and laughed along with her, shaking her head and wiping the tears off her face. "I think so," she chuckled out. She then shook her head again, "You know, I'm just not good with love. I always fall for the wrong guys and I don't know why."

"It's okay Trish," she placed a comforting hand on top her arm, "Everybody makes mistakes and you learn from them. It's just you looking for someone to give you that certain security, I mean, everybody wants that feeling."

Trish sighed and nodded her head. "You know what… I should take a break from love. Go back when I'm ready."

Maria let out a small laugh, happy to know that at least Trish was slowly starting to break out of her shell from her Chris situation. "You already got all the love you need. Why just want one when you already have five?"

Trish thought about it and nodded. "True," she said then followed it with laugh.

Maria then got a little bit serious. "Just try not to think about it and hold yourself back because of Chris okay? Just try to move forward, think positive, keep your head up, find something that makes you laugh; and you know what they say… Laughter is the key to— no wait… Laughter is the best medicine," she paused to think about it. "Wait, is that right?" she asked as somehow it didn't sound right to her.

Trish just lightly laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I know what you what you're trying to say."

Maria smiled back. "See, the more you laugh, the lesser you think about him. Just… try to find something that makes you happy and eventually you'll get over him. And then sooner or later this whole Chris thing will be a thing in the past," Maria advised. Trish just looked at the brunette across from her and simply smiled and nodded her head.

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**That night…**

Everything was going smoothly for Trish. She was behind the bar next to Beth and Talia serving drinks as always. Throughout the night, she kept playing Maria's words inside her head as a motivation to get herself through the day with ease. And so far, it was working as every laugh and smile she made has pushed the thought of Chris farther and farther away inside her head. But eventually, every once in a while she found herself looking around, expecting to see him. But to her surprise, he didn't show up at all. The night continued until they were now finished with their shift. The three were sitting around the break room, taking a quick rest before heading home. Beth and Talia were chatting about the night until they noticed Trish was being quiet. Looking over at the other blonde, they saw she was spacing off.

"Uh, Trish?" Talia spoke up with Trish waking up at the sound of her name. "You okay there babe?"

Trish tiredly rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn. "Yeah, I'm good," she replied.

"You sure?" Beth asked with concern. "You look pretty out of it. You gonna be okay driving home?"

Trish deeply inhaled the air around her and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Well, come on, let's get going. We'll walk you to you're car," Talia linked her arm with Trish's. The three were making their way to the parking lot, saying bye to their fellow co-workers on the way out. The three then headed towards Trish's car and then suddenly stopped when they spotted something lying on her car. "What the hell is that?"

The three looked around and saw nothing suspicious and then cautiously moved closer to it. The closer they got, the more clearer the object became. "It's a rose," said Beth as she walked over and grabbed it. "There's a note with it," she looked up to see Trish and Talia huddled closer together.

Trish just stayed quiet, eyeing the rose in Beth's hand. "Well… What does it say?" Talia asked.

Beth opened the little note that was attached to the rose. Quickly reading it, she looked up. "It just says, '_I'm sorry_' and that's it," she read. "Pfft, how thoughtful of him," she sarcastically spat out, rolling her eyes.

Trish was still quiet, not knowing how to react. Talia looked at her worriedly. "Uh, I don't think I want you to drive by yourself, Trish," she said. "So Beth, is it okay I ride with her tonight?" she looked at her usual driving partner.

Beth nodded her head. "Yeah, I don't want her to be by herself either."

"Um," Trish finally spoke, "I think I'll be alright ladies."

Talia shook her head objectively. "I don't care what you say, I'm riding with you." Trish didn't argue back and only nodded her head. Talia then turned to Beth, "So, we'll see you on Thursday then." Beth nodded her head and gave the two one last hug before making her way to her own car. "Uh, you sure you're okay driving, right? I don't know if I can really trust you by the way you look right now," she chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Trish just forced a smile "Don't worry, I'm good enough to take you home in one piece," she said and got inside the driver side.

During the drive, Talia was looking back and also at the side mirror every once in a while. "Well, the good thing is that no one is following you," she said, putting an ease on the two. Trish just sigh and nodded her head. "Has he been calling you as of late?" Talia then hesitantly asked.

She shook her head. "I wouldn't know, Amy took my phone and hasn't given it back to me yet," she lightly smirked.

Talia let out a laugh as they reached her place. "Well, that explains why I haven't gotten a reply from a text I sent you," she said. "Well, tell her I said hi and be careful okay?"

Trish smiled and nodded while Talia shut the door and ran to her door. She then drove straight home. Once she reached her apartment, she rushed to her door, but then abruptly stopped when she saw something in front of her. Right in front of her was a bouquet of roses lying in front of her apartment. She looked around seeing if there was anything suspicious again, but saw nothing. She then cautiously walked up to the bouquet and stood there, not knowing whether to pick it up or not. Unlocking her door, she eyed the roses again. Hesitating for a bit, she finally shook her head and walked inside her apartment, leaving the roses right where it was.

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**R&R Please…**


	4. The Email

**A/N**: Okay, I'm trying to update this story as much as I can, 'cause the updates are gonna be slowing down soon with school starting again. Damn college. But even then, I'll still try to update on my free time. This is just a future warning, just in case you're wondering why I'm not updating. So yeah, thanks for the reviews again! Oh and I haven't fully given up on my other two stories yet. Something just sparked inside my head and made me get my interest back into those two and so... expect an update from one of those two, or both :)

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**Chapter 4: The Email  
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The next morning, Torrie was the first one up and she decided to see if Trish was home safe and sound like she does every morning. Cracking the door open, she popped her head in and saw the petite blonde sleeping with her back facing the door. She softly smiled just knowing she was home safe. Closing the door, she then felt two huge hands grab her sides, causing her to squeal and jump. Turning around, she saw it was her boyfriend, AJ. "Don't do that!" she repeatedly smacked him across his chest as he playfully chuckled. She turned around and quickly checked in on Trish again, seeing if it woke her or not. Luckily, she was still sleeping. "Don't sneak up on me like that again!" she hit him again.

"Ow," he placed his hand where she had hit him, still quietly laughing. Torrie then pulled themselves away from the hallway and into the living room.

"What are you doing out of bed?" she asked, plopping down on one of the couches.

AJ was rubbing his chest where she had hit him. "I'm was just gonna go down to my car and get something real quick. I'll be back," he said, leaning down and kissed her on the lips. She then grabbed a magazine that was on the coffee table while he went to the door. Uncaringly flipping through the pages, she then heard AJ calling her name. "Uh, Torrie…"

"What?" she said, tossing the magazine back onto the table. She got up and walked over to where he was at. Standing at the doorway, she looked over his shoulder. "Where did those come from?"

AJ turned around. "I don't know, they were just sitting out here," he said, looking at the bouquet of roses he had in his hand. They were the same exact roses that Trish had saw when she came home from work. Torrie looked around, seeing if there was a card with it. Roaming her hands through it, she finally found it. "Who's it from?"

Torrie quickly read the card and looked up at him. "They're for Trish… from Chris," she said.

"What does it say?"

"It just says, '_I'm sorry and I miss you,_'" she looked at him.

"That's it?" he said. "Well, I don't think she would mind if we just throw them back out." He tried to grab for the card, but Torrie pulled it away from his reach.

"Wait I don't know," Torrie hesitantly said. AJ just looked at her confusingly. "I mean, yeah we can, but I just don't feel right just throwing them out without letting her know."

"Babe…" he slightly chuckled, "You kidding me right?"

"Well yeah, I don't like the idea that he's trying to get back with her but… still, I think she should know. I don't like keeping things from her," Torrie tried to explain. "Even if we are helping her get over him by just throwing away whatever Chris sends her."

"The note doesn't even sound important! And we're just saving her the energy by throwing them out for her," AJ try to point out. Torrie just folded her arms and sigh. "Fine, we can do this… we'll just throw them out and then tell her later…" he said, "that's if we remember." Torrie rolled her eyes.

"What are you two bickering about?" someone then said. AJ and Torrie turned their heads to see it was Amy standing in the living room.

"Trish got roses from Chris and we're trying to agree on what to do with it," AJ filled her in.

"Oh, simple…" Amy shrugged a shoulder, "toss 'em out."

AJ smirked at the platinum blonde, "Two against one, Tor."

Amy then sat on one of the couches. "Those roses are gonna rot and stink up her rooms anyways so we're just saving her the time by taking 'em out first."

AJ just quietly laughed to himself, only to receive another smack by Torrie. "Ow! Okay I'm sorry!" he raised his hands up defensively. He then grabbed the card and read it. "Come on, '_I'm sorry and I miss you_'? Don't you think Trish is smart enough not to fall for that?"

"Well, she easily falls for the simple things so you never know," said Torrie. Just then, AJ felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see it was a delivery man.

"Hey good morning! Can you sign this?" he said loudly with AJ just nodding his head. After he signed it, the delivery man then handed him a huge heavy vase of flowers.

"The hell…" he mumbled. He then shut the door and set the vase on the table.

"What did he get her? A bush?" Amy stared at the flowers on the table.

"Is there a card?" Torrie asked as she tried to look for it.

Amy looked with her and then found it. Opening it, she read, "_When you get this, give me a call, please._" She looked at the couple standing next to her. "Okay, this guy must be really desperate now. Is it too late to return it?"

"Well we can just drop 'em off in front of someone's doorstep," AJ suggest.

"We can do that and she'll never know," Amy agreed. AJ then went to grab the vase.

"Are you guys serious?" Torrie exclaimed. "I don't want Trish to get mad."

"Babe, we got this," said AJ. "Don't worry, she's not gonna get mad. We're just helping her out." He then carried the vase to the door but then stopped when he heard someone walking in on them.

"Wow, who got a bush?" They all turned to see it was Trish, who had just barely woke up.

"Uh…" AJ began, looking at the other two girls, "Wrong address, just gonna go take it to the dumpster," he replied.

"The dumpster?" Trish looked at him questioningly. "Why throw it away when you can just give it to the right address? I mean, they look too pretty to be sitting in the dump," she said as she stepped closer to look at the flowers.

"Uh, yeah…" AJ looked at the other two again.

"Well, they got some insects crawling all over them, so that's why we gotta throw it away. I mean, who wants bugs inside the house?" said Amy. Trish eyed the two suspiciously and then looked at Torrie who seemed to be the quiet one of the three.

Torrie felt the stare she was getting from Trish and couldn't take it anymore. "They're from Chris," she finally admitted.

Trish jerked her head back a little in shock. "Oh," she said, averting her eyes away from them for a bit. She noticed they were just standing there, waiting for her to tell them what to do with the flowers. "Um, yeah, you can just throw them away," she said, sitting down on the couch. AJ nodded his head as he then left the apartment.

"You okay?" Amy asked, sitting down next to her.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," Trish replied.

"You sure? You seem pretty out of it," said Torrie. "Those flowers wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?"

"I'm totally fine guys," ignoring the concern stares she was getting. "Anyways, got a day off today so I think I'm gonna go to the gym."

"By yourself?" Torrie worriedly questioned.

"Tor, relax. I'm perfectly capable of going to the gym by myself," she assured.

"Pfft, we don't care," Amy protested. "I'll go to the gym with you, I need to go anyways."

"Amy, you have work today," Trish pointed out.

"Later at 3," the redhead replied. "And right now, it's only like 8 something, so got plenty of time to come back and get ready."

Trish just sighed. "Alright," she said, not bothering to argue as it would be hopeless against the redhead anyways.

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**At the gym…**

Trish and Amy entered the building with both putting their gym bags in a locker. They did a quick stretch before they both headed over to the treadmill area. "Trish… you're not talking to him behind our backs are you?" Amy hesitantly asked, eyeing her.

Trish shook her head. "No. What makes you think that?"

"I don't know, the roses, flowers… I just wanna make sure you're not falling for him again," she said.

The blonde shook her head again. "Well, no, I'm not talking to him behind your backs. The last time I saw him was on my birthday and that was it," she said. "Look, I just wanna try not to think about him. So please don't get on my case again like last time, I just wanna workout in peace."

Amy nodded. "I just wanna make sure your head is in the right place," she assured, giving her a warm smile. "Oh hey, I'm gonna go get us some bottles of water. I'll be back real quick," said Amy. Trish nodded her head as she setup her ipod. The redhead then rushed off to another room, leaving the blonde to herself. She wasn't entirely by herself as there were a couple of people there scattered around. Starting up her machine, she began jogging at a slow pace, eyes closed and letting the run and music clear her mind. For the moment, she felt herself at peace… until she was interrupted.

Trish didn't have her music on loud so she clearly heard someone trying to get her attention. Opening her eyes, she saw someone on the treadmill next to her. "Uh hi," he nervously said. She just sent him a small smile in a nice gesture in response and continued with her run. "Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but can you help me out real quick?" he asked. "My friends have been bugging me to try going to a gym for once, so I'm sort of new to this," he said, embarrassed to even admit the last part.

Trish furrowed her brows at him, looking at him weirdly, but not in an entirely rude way. She didn't know if it was him getting warmed up to use a pick-up line next or if he was actually telling the truth. But she decided to be helpful anyways. "Um… you just push that green button on the side to turn it on, set the speed you want, and push the green button again," she said.

He nodded his head, doing as told. "Thanks," he said, giving her a thankful smile.

"No problem," she simply said, focusing back on her run. She mostly kept to herself and would discreetly eye him a couple of times and saw he would timidly glance back every now and then.

After a couple of minutes, he then spoke again. "I'm sorry, I didn't really want to do this," he admitted as he ran next to her. Trish just stared at him questioningly. "You see, my friends back there," he nod his head to the back corner of the room with Trish's eyes following to where he nodded at. Almost across the room, she saw a couple of guys discreetly cheering him on, giving him thumbs up and gesturing for him to continue on. "Yeah, they basically forced me to come over here and try to ask you out. I didn't want to, but I had to shut them up somehow so… now I'm here."

Trish slowly turned away, stopping her machine and got off. "I'm sorry… I'm not looking right now," she quietly said. He nodded his head and then tried to stop his machine, but he didn't know what button to push. Trish saw and couldn't help but crack a small smile. "The red button," she simply said.

He nodded his head again and pushed it as the machine then came to a slow stop. "Thanks," he embarrassingly said. "Oh and I'm not looking either, it's just…" he began, "you know how guys can be, pushing their friend to get a girl's number who they don't even know."

Trish nodded her head understandingly. "Yeah well… I guess you can just tell them I wasn't interested," she said in a nice way. She was about to walk away when he stopped her.

"I'm sorry, how stupid of me, I forgot to introduce myself," he said, slapping his forehead. "My name is Eric by the way… Eric Young."

Trish gave a slight quick smile and nodded. "Trish," she just replied.

He nodded his head too. "Well, thanks again Trish."

She smiled again and then walked away. She was then finally reunited with the redhead. "Sorry, stupid vending machine wouldn't take my money. Had to dig for some coins," Amy grumbled as she handed her a cold bottle.

"It's okay," she said, taking the bottle from her hand and taking a sip. She then turned slightly around, seeing the blonde man she had talked to earlier now with his friends. Eric too turned slightly around, catching the petite blonde looking his way. When Trish noticed, she sent him a small friendly smile before turning back to Amy. Eric just stood there with his friends, a smirk appearing on his face.

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**Later that day…**

Trish had taken a short nap after she had gotten home from the gym with Amy and it was now noon. She was just sitting around in her room and then decided to check her email. Walking over to her desk, she flipped her laptop open and signed on. Still in effect from her nap, she rubbed her eyes to fully wake herself up and set them back onto the screen. She went through the list of new emails. '_Sister, sister, junk, cousin…_' she continued browsing through the list until she then froze. One of the emails stood specifically out to her; it was an email from him. She stared at it for a while, biting down on her lip, not knowing whether to read it or not. She then looked over at the door, wondering if Amy or Maria would walk in. Contemplating for bit with her finger on the mouse button, she shut her eyes closed and finally clicked on it. She then opened her eyes and saw it was about a medium length email, not too long, but quite enough for her to take her time to read.

_Hey Trish…  
How are you? Hope everything is going well for you. I'm at work right now and I decided to email you since this is probably the only way to get a hold of you, whether you decide to read this or not. I also decided to email you since you haven't been picking up any of my calls, which I don't blame you for… Anyways, what I really wanted to say was that I'm truly sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you, all the pain, the stress, the frustrations… everything that wasn't putting a smile on your beautiful face. Yesterday, I did a lot of thinking and I realized how wrong I was. When I saw that look in your eyes on Monday, the pain, the fear that I caused, it's just what I didn't want to see anymore. I know I haven't been a good boyfriend to you and I'll admit to you right now that, yes I was in the wrongs. I shouldn't have treated you badly, I shouldn't have kissed that girl, but for the most, I shouldn't have hurt you. I don't know what I was thinking that night. All I remember was that I had too much to drink and then one thing led to another… that happened. I seriously don't want it to be over between us. You mean everything to me and I'll do anything to just be with you again, or at least hear your voice. If it's changes you want, then I'll change every flaws I have, anything to just be with you again. I know you probably don't want anything to deal with me, but just please, give it a good second thought. If you don't want anything with me anymore, then I'll understand and try to deal with it. But all I want is for you to give it a second thought. Take all the time you want, I'll wait no matter how long it takes. I guess… email me back if you do read this since I know that I probably won't be getting a phone call from you. 'Til then, take care.  
Chris_

Trish sat back in her seat as she finished reading the email. She had to admit, parts of it seemed sincere, but did she really want to believe him? Did she really want to go through all that again with him? She didn't know what was going on in her head. It's like one minute she was trying to get over him, but when she hears from him, she's back to being where she was before, being weak. As she was just sitting there, she then heard someone walk in. "Hey Trish!"

She suddenly pushed a button and quickly flipped her laptop closed. "Uh hey…" she then turned her head towards the door, "John? What are you doing here?" And immediately, whatever she was feeling or thinking about right before was pushed aside, replaced by the joy of seeing her best friend who knew how to put a smile on her face whenever she's at her worse. At this point, especially after reading the email, she needed all the help she can get to get her mind off of him.

"I got a day off today," he replied, jumping onto her bed and laid down. "I knew you had Wednesdays off so I… being a good friend," he goofily grinned, "decided to drop by and chill with you. I figured you'd be home alone when Amy goes to work."

Trish smiled at him. "You just had nothing to do 'cause AJ is at work."

"Hey, it's not my fault my roommate decides to spend most of his time here, comes home just to change and leave for work," he said. "Gets lonely sometime back at my place…" he quietly drifted off.

Trish let out a small laugh. "Well, you didn't have to drop by; Maria is on her 2 week vacation," she replied jokingly.

"Jeez Trish," rolling his eyes, "you didn't have to sugarcoat the '_I don't want you here, John._' I would've got the message either way," he said, getting up from the bed.

Trish laughed and quickly grabbed John by the sleeve. "I'm kidding. No need to be gay about it," she joked again.

"Hey," he glared at her. "I'm far from that," he said and lied back down on her bed as she then sat next to him.

They were then joined by Amy and Maria as they casually strolled in the room. "Doesn't anybody know how to knock?" Trish sighed.

"Hey, your door was left open. It was an open invitation," Amy smirked while Trish just shook her head. "Anyways, came by just to give you something before I head off to work. You can think of it as an early Christmas present from me to you." Trish looked up at her to see what it was. "I got you a new cell phone and number!"

"What? When? Why?" questioned the blonde.

"Yesterday. Your other phone had some _problems_," said Amy, stressfully emphasizing the word 'problems'.

Trish shook her head. "Why didn't you just change the number?" she questioned again.

"Well, you see…" Amy looked up as if to hiding something, "the _problem _was so bad that it got to the point where I… accidentally dropped, stepped, and broke it," she quickly mumbled the last part. Trish just stared at her while John and Maria tried to hold in their laugh. "But ironically," the redhead continued, "right before it broke, I happened to saved all the important numbers. So no need to go through all that trouble 'cause I already put all the numbers in there for you. Family, friends, you know those important numbers," she smiled, handing her the new phone she got her.

"You got me the new Sidekick?"

"Well I figured, you know, when you wanna text us, it be much easier for you with the little keyboard," she replied. Trish opened her mouth to say something, but she ended up being cut off. "Welp, I gotta get going now," Amy said, looking at the time. "Talk to you guys later. _Or_… I'll text you on your new Sidekick," she grinned at the blonde before shutting the door. John and Maria let out a chuckle and were then joined along by Trish.

"So you here to tell me you broke something of mine too?" Trish looked at the brunette.

"No," Maria shook her head, "Wanted to see what you guys were doing. So you guys doing anything right now?"

Trish and John looked at one another and shook their heads no. "No, why? What's up?" John asked.

"Well, since you two aren't really doing anything right now, you guys wanna come with me to the mall?" asked Maria.

"Why do you need to go to the mall?" asked John.

"I just need to browse around for some last-minute presents," she replied.

Trish stared at her. "You insane? Christmas shopping? 5 days before Christmas! It's gonna be hell!"

"Aw come on Trish. It won't be that bad… as long as we're together," John said. "We'll fight through the crowd together. Push an old lady down if we have to!"

Trish's mouth hung open and she lightly shoved him on the arm. "You're so mean."

Maria stood there and laughed at John's comment. "So Trish…?" she looked at her, pouting and giving her the best puppy dog eyes she can give her, knowing Trish won't be able resist. "It'll help you get your mind off of you know who," she brought up.

Trish's face softens. "But shopping…" shaking her head, trying to resist until she tilted her head back and sigh, "Alright, fine."

Maria smiled widely. "Okay, hurry up and get ready! 'Cause you know we gotta look for parking and that's gonna be a pain. But that's why we have John here to be the driver! And plus, we got many many shops that I need to check out," she said.

"Wait, how did I-" John was then cut off by Maria

"I'll be in my room waiting." And with that, she then left the room.

John stared at the doorway Maria had just passed. "How did I become the driver in all this?" he then finished his question.

"By coming over," Trish replied, smiling down at him. John had a confused look on his face. "But it's okay 'cause it won't be that bad… _as long as we're together_, right?" she mocked him, patting him on his head. John just groaned in response. "I'm gonna go see if Maria has my brown sweater," she said then made her way to the door.

"Hey Trish, can I go online real quick?" John called out.

"Uh, yeah," she replied from the hallway.

John then got up out of the bed and walked over to her desk. Once he flipped the laptop open, something immediately popped up right in front of him, it was the email from Chris. Apparently, when John came in, Trish panicked and had thought she closed the email when she clicked on the mouse button. But unfortunately, she didn't pay attention and just shut the laptop from there. John sat there, he knew he shouldn't go through her personal things, but seeing Chris's name right in front of him, he couldn't turn his head away.

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**R&R Please…**


	5. A Helpful Direction

**A/N**: A continuation of the same day.

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**Chapter 5: A Helpful Direction****  
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"John there's a parking spot over there!" Maria yelled out from the backseat, pointing to an empty spot not too far, "Hurry! That car is about to get it!" John just groans and tried the best he could to get the parking spot, but failed.

Trish shook her head in disappointment. "Way to go John, lost the spot to an old lady."

"Hey! I can't concentrate with Maria here constantly pounding the back of my seat and yelling in my right ear," said John with the two laughing. "And besides, we wouldn't be here right now if _someone_ would've done all her Christmas shopping early," he glared at the brunette from the rearview mirror.

"I'm sorry, but I got a lot of family! It would be just wrong of me to leave one of them out," she replied.

"No, that's not it," Trish looked over at Maria suspiciously. "I know you got everything for your family already. I was there with you when you were marking off your list."

John put his foot on the brakes for a moment. "Don't tell me that we're here just because you saw a cute top in one of the stores," he eyed her.

"No! I really do need to get a present," Maria said defensively.

"Uh huh," Trish narrowed her eyes, "For who?"

Maria averted her eyes away from the two. "Uh, my aunt… Martha."

Trish then began laughing. "Puh-lease Maria, you don't have an Aunt Martha!"

"Of course I do! I told you about her. You know… I told you she was like 54 years old, uh, she's humble, she likes to decorate her house, and likes to cook, do crafts, and garden… You probably just don't remember me talking about her 'cause you fell asleep on me at the time," she replied.

Trish rolled her eyes at what she knew was a lie. "Uh huh, yeah, okay that's it," she sarcastically nodded her head, still not believing her. Right then, John found a parking spot and took it before anybody else did. The three then entered the mall.

"Uh, how about I go my separate way and just meet you guys at the food court at about an hour and half or so?" Maria suggested, looking at the two.

"You sure? I mean, maybe I can help you find a present for your 'Aunt Martha.' Ya know, maybe I might know what she'll like," Trish said.

"N-n-no, I'm good. I think I know what she likes. So yeah, food court at an hour and half ?" she quickly said again while slowly backing away from the two. The two eyed her suspiciously, nodding at the same time. Maria smiled and quickly left the two. John and Trish then stood there in the middle of a crowded mall, wondering what to do.

"So… are there any shops you wanna look around in?" John asked.

Trish shook her head, "No, not really. Even if I did, it's too stressful to shop with all these people here," she said, feeling slightly claustrophobic at the moment. "What about you?"

John shook his head too, "No."

"Well, we gotta do something for about an hour or so," said Trish.

John nodded, trying to come up with something. "Hey, you're still down to go to the retreat right?" he then asked.

"Of course!" she smiled, clasping her hands together.

"Well, why don't we go look at some gear then? I think I need some new beanies," he said. Trish nodded her head and they both began walking, searching for a store to shop in. They then entered a clothing shop and began browsing around. They were looking at a couple of jackets and hats until John led Trish to a different section.

"Oh, I didn't know they had snowboards here," she said, letting her eyes roam through the many different boards and designs. She then turned to him, clasping her hands together again, "So, what are we doing here?" she asked, completely oblivious.

He let out a playful smirk and turned to her. "Don't tell me you're not gonna go snowboarding while we're up there."

Trish had a confused look on her face as she looked at the boards and then set her eyes back onto him, "Uh, but I don't know how to snowboard," she told him.

"It's okay, I can teach you," he smiled as he put an arm around her.

She just stared at him. "_You _know?"

"Of course! Snowboarded a couple of times, so I'll teach you," he said again. Trish was hesitant, unsure if she really wanted to learn or not. "Come on Trish, it's fun! You'll love it when you try it! Here I can teach you a little bit right now," he said, searching and grabbing a board that he thought suited her off the rack. At the same time, one of the employees helped her find a pair of boots and bindings that suited her as well. Trish sat on one of the benches while John helped her put the boots on and such. Once the bindings were strapped on and she was strapped onto the board, she tried to get up, only to soon fall forward. Luckily John was standing in front of her and caught her just in time.

"I don't know about this John," she began to doubt herself.

"Trish trust me, you're gonna do fine!" he reassured. "You just gotta try to relax, get comfortable."

"My friggin' feet are strapped onto a board and I can barely move my legs. I don't know how I can get comfortable!"

John just began laughing. "Look me in the eyes Trish," he told her, which she did. "Do you trust me?"

Trish was looking into his deep blue eyes for a while and finally let out a sigh. "Ugh, I guess I trust you," she sluggishly said, rolling her eyes.

John rolled his eyes. "Can you at least say it like you mean it?" he laughed.

Trish laughed in return. "Okay I trust you."

"Do you really mean it? 'Cause I don't know if you meant it or not."

"Yes! I trust you!" she repeated loud and clear.

"Good," he gave a nod. He then began teaching her the basics, which took about 15 minutes for her to get used to with both of them laughing, mostly Trish laughing at how silly she felt at the moment. "And you give me a hard time for my dancing," John muttered, eyeing how unskillful she looked at the moment.

Trish reacted by giving him a playful smack on the arm. "Well, this is different 'cause I never done this before."

"Well, if I had to rate you," John said as he crossed his arm and observed her, "I'd give you a 4… and that's me being nice," he smiled widely. And with that, he received another smack on the arm with the force causing Trish to lose her balance and fall back onto the bench behind her. After the mini teaching session, John decided to get himself a board and had convinced Trish to get herself one too. They then went back to look around and then finally decided to buy a couple of jackets and beanies along with it. "Hey Trish," John began as they were at the register, about ready to pay, "can you promise me something?"

Trish eyed him warily. "What?" she nervously asked.

"Promise me that you'll at least try to go snowboarding when we're up there. Like seriously, I don't want all my teaching to go to waste," he said.

She let out a small laugh. "Yeah sure, I promise," she smiled.

John smiled too, nodding his head and then they paid for their stuff. "Good, 'cause I have something to confess," he then said once they stepped out with their new items. They stopped right in front of the shop with Trish looking up at him. "I'm not a really good snowboarder."

Trish just stared blankly at him for a while and then let out a forced chuckle, hoping he was joking, "What?"

"Hey! I never said I was good in the beginning and you promised! You can't back out from a promise," John brought up, unable to keep a straight face.

"Are you serious? Oh my God, I'm gonna break my legs because of you. I'm probably gonna go home in a gurney…" she began mumbling off.

"Hey! I may not be good, but I have snowboarded a couple of times. I'm somewhat decent enough to make sure you won't go home with anything broken," he laughed.

"_Somewhat_?" Trish covered her face with her hand and slid it down her face, "I hate you John, I can't I believe I said I trusted you," she shook her head.

"Come on, I promise you won't go home with anything broken and I guarantee that you'll have fun. I promise that for sure," he smile at her. "You can trust me on that right?"

Trish dramatically rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up with the whole trusting and promise thing already," shaking her head and began walking away. John just laughed again and went to go catch up with her.

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**Later on…**

About two-three hours later, the three finally came home from the mall and all plopped down on the couches. "Jeez, that was horrible," John groaned, leaning his head back onto the cushion.

"Please, it wasn't that bad," Maria replied, sitting on the other couch beside him.

"Speak for yourself!" John glared at her, "You weren't the one driving. That was a pain trying to get out of the parking lot with all those cars. And the weird thing is that, it's not even a Friday! Who the hell goes shopping on Wednesdays? In the afternoon!" he ranted.

"Oh, what happened to the '_it won't be that bad, as long as we're together_' talk you did earlier?" Trish laughed. "I told you it was going to be hell."

"Hey! It was supposed to be fun 'cause we would suffer together! But that was before I found out I was driving, okay," he replied only to have the two girls laugh more. He then threw a pillow at them in response.

"So Maria, what did you end up getting for your 'Aunt Martha'?" Trish asked, eyeing the brunette suspiciously.

"Oh nothing really," she just shrugged.

Trish raised a brow. "Really? That's a pretty big bag to call it a nothing," she smirked.

"It's not big of a deal," Maria tried to wave off. Trish nodded her head with a devious grin slowly creeping on her face.

Trish then snatched the bag next to her and jumped onto the other couch where John was sitting. "Wehehell, what's this?" Trish eyed the brunette, grabbing what was inside the bag. She pulled out what looked like to be a large heavy hooded sweater. "Wow, I didn't know your 'Aunt Martha' likes The Misfits! For a humble 54 year old lady, she seems to have a pretty hardcore taste in music." Maria's face began to flush and she just looked away in embarrassment. "And this is a pretty nice beanie you got her. I like her taste," Trish nodded in approval. "What does she like to do again?"

"Okay, okay! I don't have an 'Aunt Martha' alright!" she finally admitted.

"What! Really?" Trish playfully acted shocked, placing a hand on her chest.

"Oh shut up Trish," Maria rolled her eyes as Trish laughed. "They're for… someone else okay?"

"Yeah, I know. They're for Phil," Trish replied, putting the items back inside the bag.

"Phil? Who's this Phil guy?" John barged in.

"It's this guy Amy works with at the tattoo shop. Really cool guy," Trish filled him in. "Apparently, something is going on between him and Maria."

"We're just friends, okay. And he's coming along with us to the retreat so I decided to get him a little something for the trip," said Maria.

"Uh…" Trish looked at the price tag, "a $60 sweater is not really in the little range. Plus, adding a $20 beanie along with it?"

"Okay, I'm going to my room now and see if I got everything packed for Friday," Maria changed the subject, ignoring the comment and the childish stare she was getting from the blonde. She then grabbed her bag from Trish and made her way to her room. Now it was just Trish and John in the living room.

Looking at the time, Trish noticed it was almost 5 o'clock and decided to start making dinner. "So, you staying over for dinner?" she asked, getting up from her seat and walking to the kitchen.

"Uh, sure" he said, following her and sat on one of the stool chairs at the counter.

Trish was looking inside the refrigerator and freezer, deciding what she should make. "Hmmm… pasta sounds good? I make a really good chicken fettuccini alfredo," she looked at him. John just nodded his head as Trish then brought out a package of boneless chicken that were already defrosted.

John watched every movement the blonde was making, not one moment had he seen anything was bothering or slowing her down ever since he read the email. Fortunately, he didn't get caught as he closed it just in time before Trish returned back to her room. And since then, he didn't tell Trish that he had read it nor even brought it up. He just acted his casual self, making her laugh and smile like he does best. He wanted to show her without blatantly telling her that she didn't need Chris to fully complete her life and he wanted for her to realize that by knowing what it's like to be happy again. But of course, he had to wonder what was going on inside her head at the moment.

Trish was at the sink, cutting up the chicken, and then went to a cupboard to bring out a pot and a pan as well as many other things to complete the recipe. She took a quick glance over at John and noticed he had been quiet for a while. "You okay there, John?" she furrowed her brow.

John was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Trish talking to him. He sighed, leaning towards the counter and looked at her. He had to know. "You're over Chris right?" he suddenly asked, catching Trish off-guard.

Trish just looked at him. It took a couple of seconds for her to realize what he had just asked. "Uh, I don't know… but I know I'm trying," she said, walking back to the sink area. "Why do you ask?" she asked with her back towards him.

"Well, I didn't want to bring this up 'cause I wanted to help you get over him, but… I read the email."

Trish turned around halfway and stared at him, "You did?"

He nodded his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to, it just popped up," he said, staring down at the countertop, not wanting to see her reaction. He was expecting for her to go at least somewhat berserk on him, but was surprised when she didn't.

"Oh," was all she said, turning back around to continue preparing dinner.

"You didn't reply back to him, did you?"

Trish shook her head. "No," she said.

"Are you planning to?" he then ask.

She then let out a stressful sigh, "I don't know," she said, barely above whisper.

John wasn't really convinced to what he was hearing as he knows there was more to it than what he was hearing. He got off the stool and walked over to her, leaning back onto the counter. Trish just kept her focus on what she was doing. John sighed. "Look, I don't want to tell you what to do 'cause that is up to you. I know you're a smart girl and you should make your own decision, but when it deals with Chris… that guy is just plain bad news. I think you should just cut all ties with him; I seriously don't want you talking to him anymore. I mean, everything else is up to you, but with problems like Chris, sometimes you need someone to step in and help you choose which direction to go. Come on, we both know he has a mind of his own, he says he'll do one thing, but does the other. How many more times do you want to fall for that?"

Trish sighed and stopped what she was doing, setting the knife down on the cutting board. "I don't," she said. "But…" John stared at her questioningly when he heard the word 'but'. "It's really hard for me to try to get over him when I always hear from him somehow," she quietly said. "I can't even be happy for a whole day. Every time I try and think I can go a day without him, he has to pop in my day somehow. Whether it's just seeing his name on the caller ID, sending me an email, or sending me flowers, he's just not making it any easy for me. And seeing him would make it worse."

John moved a little closer to her and leaned forward onto the counter. "That's why you have me, you have Maria, and you have the others to help you in times like this," he consoled. "Look, if you're having that hard of a time getting over him, then I guarantee you that if you spend at least a week or more of no contact from Chris, you're gonna realize that you don't need him at all. And coincidentally, this comes at a perfect timing 'cause we're all going back home to be with our family for Christmas and then we're all gonna be up in the mountains, having one hell of time may I add," he said.

Trish stood there and thought about what he had just said. It did sound promising, but she didn't know if it would really help her or not. '_Maybe he's right,_' she thought. She should let the coming week of being away be sort of a test for her to test if she still has feelings for Chris. "Come on," John playfully nudged her arm, shaking her out of her thoughts, "who makes you happier? Me? Or some ass named Chris?" he questioned, trying to make the whole Chris problem easier for her.

Trish huffed at his question. "Yeah, but there are some days where you like to piss me off."

"Hey you like to piss me off too, but that's just us. We just have a love-hate relationship. Well, not the kind you and Chris had, ours is special 'cause at the end of the day, we know it's all love between us," he chuckled. Trish couldn't help but laugh, agreeing with him. "See, Chris who? You know I make you happier," he playfully grinned and gave her a wink, making her laugh even more. And with that, John knew she would make the right decision at the end… or at least he hope she does.

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**R&R Please…**


	6. Premonition?

**Disclaimer**: I own absolutely no one. 

**A/N**: Hey loyal readers and new readers, I'm back... well just for now. Sorry it's been a loooooooooooong time. College is taking up my free time! But for now, I managed to squeeze this chapter in my time since I didn't have that much homework to do. And sorry again! After looking at the past chapters, I'm realizing I'm sort of dragging this 'cause I haven't yet gotten to the anticipated "horrible incident." But don't worry! It's coming soon! I just wanted to get the feel of each character out first because I didn't want to just jump into it without describing how things were before, if you know what I mean. But yeah anyways, juicy stuff coming soon in the next upcoming chapters, I promise.

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**Chapter 6: Premonition?  
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It was now Thursday with the next day being the day Trish, Amy, Maria, Torrie, AJ, and John each heading to their respective homes to spend the holiday with their families. It was late and Trish was heading to her car with Beth and Talia by her side after finishing their final shift of the week. "Alright ladies, I guess I'll be seeing ya in about two weeks," Trish said as they got to her car.

"Alright, hope you have a fun safe holiday," said Beth as she gave the fellow blonde a hug.

"Yeah, and don't get too wild up there in the mountains," Talia added, giving her a hug as well.

Trish rolled her eyes and snorted, "Yeah, I'll try," she sarcastically let out. "Have a Merry Christmas you two." The two then left the blonde by herself. As Trish unlocked her car and opened the door, she heard soft footsteps behind her that seemed to be getting louder by the second. She cautiously turned around, but saw nobody was there. "Beth? Talia?" she called out, thinking that maybe they were playing a little joke on her. There was no answer which made Trish a little bit uneasy, but she tried to shake it off. As she turned back around, she was immediately startled when she saw who was standing in front of her.

"Are you okay Trish?" he asked with concern. "You look a bit pale."

She tried to steady her breathing as her heart was racing in fear. "I'm f-fine. I-I'm just gonna head home now," she said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said as he gently grabbed her hand while she had it on the door, "Are you sure?" he asked.

Trish gave a nod, "Yes. Now can you let go so I can get going." When he didn't let go, she looked at him questioningly. "What are you doing?" she said.

"You know, you look good," he softly smiled and complimented her before setting his eyes to the floor. "I miss you."

She tore her eyes away from him. "Chris…"

"It's true. I do miss you. My days haven't been the same since you left me," he said, inching towards her. "Just… please give me another chance."

As he was getting closer, she was taking steps back. She shook her head. "As genuine and sincere your words sound… I can't. I just… can't."

It was then that she sensed the tone was changing as he let out a frustrated sigh. She then heard someone calling her name from a distant. "Trish… Trish…" a voice called out. Desperately looking around trying to see who was calling her, she couldn't find where the voice was coming from. All of a sudden, she felt a tight grip on her wrist and being harshly pulled. As soon as she turned around, her eyes abruptly open, finding herself staring up at the ceiling. She laid still in that position for a while until she sensed someone was in the room with her. With a slight motion to the side, she saw who the voice belonged to.

"Torrie?" she groggily let out.

"Hey, finally you woke up," she smiled at her and sat down at her bedside. "I called your name a couple of times, but you weren't waking up. Were you having a dream?"

Confusion was written on her face as she still lied in bed. Even if she tried at the moment, she couldn't get herself to sit up as she felt some sort of heavy pressure lying on top of her, pinning her down. "I guess…" she replied.

Torrie snorted at the comment. "You guess?" she chuckled, "How can you guess if you had a dream or not?"

"I don't know. It felt real that I didn't even know it was a dream," said Trish. "Well… until the end where your voice started interfering."

Torrie chuckled again. "What was it about?"

Trish sighed and finally forced herself to sit up. "I was at work, about to go home… then Chris showed up."

Concern then filled the platinum blonde's face. "Really? What happened?"

She tried to remember exactly what happened when Chris appeared, but it was starting to become a blank to her. "All I remember was that he showed up saying to take him back and I guess before anything else can happen… that's when I woke up."

"Hmm, maybe your dream is telling you something," said Torrie. Trish just frowned at the comment as she began to think. "Maybe it was a premonition," she suggested.

Trish just sat there, wondering what would've happened if she was still sleeping. "You think so?"

"If it was real enough that you didn't know you were dreaming in the beginning, then it's possible."

"So… there's a chance that I'm going to see him tonight?" she nervously said.

Torrie noticed the nervous look on the blonde's face. "Hey, it could also just be a regular random dream." When she saw she wasn't saying anything and just staring off into space, she began to worry. "Trish, you okay there?"

She shook out of her thoughts, "Oh, uh yeah. So umm, you said you were trying to wake me up earlier. Did you need something?" she said, changing the subject.

"Oh, I just noticed that it was almost 6:30 and I was waking you up to get ready for work," she replied.

"Oh, okay. Thanks," Trish yawned.

Torrie saw she was still sitting there and knew she was still thinking about her dream. "You know," she began, "in case if he does show up tonight, I don't want to take the chance of knowing you might be alone with him so… I'll hang out with you at the club throughout your shift."

Trish lightly smiled at her offer. "That's nice of you Tor, but you don't-"

"No, I want to," she cut her off. "And I'm pretty sure Maria would be up for it too along with Amy once she gets off of work. AJ and John too! It'll be like our usual night out in the town! Except, you'll be working," she said. "And besides, I don't think it's safe for you to be alone with him, mentally and physically."

Trish glanced down at her wrist, suddenly remembering the very last second of her dream right before she woke up. "Yeah," she softly replied, rubbing her wrist.

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**Later that night, Club Rain…**

"Here you go ladies, one Green Apple Martini and one South of the Border," Talia smiled as she handed the guests their drinks. They both thanked her and walked away. The blonde then began wiping down the countertop until she noticed Trish just numbly standing there with her mind occupied. "Hey Trish, you just going to stand there or are you gonna serve any drinks?" When Trish didn't reply, Talia gave her a light smack on the arm to wake her up.

"What?" she finally replied as if she had just woke up from a deep slumber

Talia stared at her oddly. "Trish you've been just standing there since our shift started. I have not yet seen you serve one single drink," she pointed out. "Now something is definitely on your mind or unless you're just wanting to get yourself fired on purpose. And with the drama that's happened here recently that evidently seems to trace towards you, I won't be surprise if the managers did fire you... but I'll protest if they do."

Trish gave a long sigh. "Yeah, I won't be surprise either." She then began to drift off into space again, staring aimlessly out at the crowd dancing in the club. She started thinking about her dream again and was starting to become curious to know what would've happened if the dream went longer. At the same time, she knew she should prepare herself if Chris were to actually show up later that night. Then suddenly right at that moment, she felt two hands grab each of her arms from behind as a head then rested on her shoulder.

"Hey Trish." She turned her head to the side to see it was Beth. "There's a guy over there and he's kind of asking for you. He said he doesn't really know you, but met you at a gym yesterday," said Beth, looking over at the guy with Trish's eyes following along. Trish saw him and she indeed recognized him. "Do you know him?"

Trish thought about it for a quick moment, remembering that he seemed like a friendly guy who didn't want to do any harm. "Uh yeah," she finally replied.

Beth nodded her head. "Okay well, get moving," she smiled, playfully pushing Trish to the area she was at earlier. Trish rolled her eyes as she walked over to where the man was..

"Hey, I didn't know you work here. Trish right?" he flashed a smile, extending his hand out to her.

Trish gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah. You're… Eric?" she furrowed her brows as she shook his hand.

Eric smiled and nodded his head. "I think we improved from yesterday. We at least started off with the names first," he chuckled as Trish just smiled. "Hey, you alright there? I didn't mean to be looking, but you looked a bit out of it a while ago."

She stared at him for a short while before realizing what he was talking about. "Oh, um yeah," she quickly replied. "Just, ya know, tired... Can't wait for Christmas."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Especially after Christmas," said Eric. "Me and my buddies have this huge trip planned," he excitedly said. Trish just smiled and nodded her head in response. "What about you? You got anything planned after Christmas?"

"Umm, actually yeah. I'm planning to go to a retreat up in the mountains with my friends-"

"You too?" Eric excitedly asked, sounding surprised. "What a coincident, that's exactly what me and my friends had planned," he exclaimed. "Maybe it's a sign that we're randomly running into each other?"

She gave a short snort and folded her arms, "Well, I wouldn't call it a sign yet since we might not be at the same mountain. Is it a coincident? Yes, since we have similar plans going on. But a sign? I don't think so. If you think about it, this is the first time we 'ran' into each other."

He nodded his head. "Well then, which retreat are you going to then?"

"I don't know," she bluntly replied with a sluggish shrug as Eric gave a small chuckle. "It was basically my friend's idea so I'm letting him plan everything while I'm just gonna go with the flow," said Trish. "What about you?"

He had a contemplating look on his face. "You know what," he looked at her, "maybe I should keep that answer to myself and we should see if we do end up at the same one. Then we'll see if it's a sign or not. What do you say?" He extended his hand out to her and waited for her to shake on it.

Trish looked at his hand for a while and then gave a shrug. "I guess," she said and shook his hand. "But don't take this sign too serious-"

"Oh I won't," he cut her off. "It's just for fun."

Trish gave a small smile and nodded. "So, uh, is there anything I can get for ya?"

"Oh no, I'm good. Your friend Beth already took care of it," he said as he showed her the four bottles of beer in one of his hands; all unopened except for one, which was his that he was drinking out of. "I just wanted to talk to you before getting these to my buddies."

"Oh, well then, I guess you better get going before they start giving you flak for being late with the beers," she said. "And nobody likes a warm beer."

He smirked at her, "Yeah. Well, it's nice seeing you again. Glad we got a bit of conversation going on this time." Trish just nodded in response. "Maybe I'll be seeing ya after Christmas."

Trish gave a huge shrug. "Maybe," she sluggishly replied. It was Eric's turn to nod in response as he then turned around and started walking through the crowd in search for his friends.

"What was that all about?" Trish all of a sudden heard. She turned her head to the side to see Talia gushing at her.

Trish shook her head. "Nothing," she plainly replied.

"_Nothing_," she mocked her. "Then what was that whole '_Maybe_' thing you two had going on?"

"Exactly… nothing!" Trish repeated again as she began to walk away, but Talia grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"You mean to tell me that there was no flirting going on between you two?" she smirked.

Trish sighed and looked straightforwardly at her friend in a stern face. "No, there wasn't."

"Oh come on Trish. I know flirting when I see one and what I saw… was flirting," Talia knowingly replied.

Trish stressfully pinched the bridge of her nose. "We were not. Well, on my part, I wasn't."

"Well, okay fine. But _he_ was flirting though," she said as she was wiping the countertop.

"No he wasn't," Trish lightly chucked. "And if he was, then woops, the signals must've slipped right pass me," she shrugged.

"And that's how he wants you to think!" Talia excitedly exclaimed. "He wants you to think that he's some nice guy and it's all just friendly encounters between you two when really, he's discreetly flirting with you by using harmless words you want to hear. And before you know it, he's gonna ask you out on a date."

Trish rolled her eyes. It was then that she saw Torrie, Amy, and Maria walking up to the bar with AJ and John right behind them. '_Thank you!_' she thought as they arrived at such perfect timing. "Hey guys!" she smiled and gave them hugs.

"Yes, of course, ignore me Trish when you know I'm right," Talia jokingly glared at her.

"Right about what?" Torrie asked.

Before Talia could get a word out, Trish raised her hand to stop her and shook her head. "It's not a big deal. It's nothing really," she told them.

She smirked and nodded. "Alright, then… Make sure you tell Eric I say hi when you run into him on your trip," Talia lastly said before walking over to the other side of the bar.

The five stood there and looked at Trish, waiting for an explanation on the comment. "It's nothing really," she stressfully said again.

Hours passed and Trish was finally finished with her shift. She was walking out the building along with Beth and Talia like she usually does until she saw Torrie waiting for her outside the door. "Alright, bye ladies. Have a safe holiday." They both wished her the same thing and parted ways. "Hey," she smiled, "Where's everyone else?"

"I told them to just go and that we'll meet them back at our apartment." Trish nodded her head. "And besides, I haven't had the chance to hang out with you. You know, just me and you," said Torrie as she linked arms with her.

"Yeah, it was kind of a shocker when I didn't see AJ by your side," Trish joked as they walked to Trish's car. "So, you excited to spend part of Christmas with AJ's family?"

"Yeah," she smiled widely which then turned into a frown.

Trish noticed the look on her face. "What's wrong Tor? I thought you were excited to spend Christmas with AJ and his family," she said once they reached the car.

"I am, without a doubt," she replied as they both then got in the car. "But I'm worried about you though. Are you going to be okay?" Torrie asked.

She gave a small laugh, "Tor, you're only going to be about 20 minutes away from us. You're going to see me Christmas night when you bring AJ to your parent's house," she said. "And besides, I have my family, Amy, Maria, and John around to keep me busy."

"Of course John will be there to keep you busy," she muttered under her breath.

Trish eyed her from the corner of her eye. "What was that?"

"I'm just saying, John practically knows what you need and what's good for you," she tried to explain. "If he sees you down, you know he's going to be the first in line to bring you back up is what I meant."

"Yeah," Trish softly smiled, "he's a good guy and a good friend."

"And, of course there's me and AJ on the phone if you need anything."

"Of course, I don't know what I would do without my favorite couple," she laughed.

"That's right," Torrie nodded. "Well, so far so good, no Chris sighting yet. You glad your dream didn't come true?"

Before Trish could even answer, they were both interrupted when they heard someone tapping on the window, causing both to slightly jump in their seats since it was 2 in the morning. The figure bent down slightly and gave the ladies a clear view of his face. Trish just sat still with a blank expression on her face when she saw who was on the other side of her window.

* * *

**R&R Please…**


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